The American Red Cross and Disaster Relief in the 1960s: Nonprofits and Mass Philanthropy in an Era of Rising Expectations

Abstract

Hurricane Camille, a devastating Category Five hurricane which hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S. in August, 1969, prompted a reassessment of U.S. disaster relief policy. The American National Red Cross, which had played the dominant role in disaster relief for individuals in the U.S. since the turn of the century, saw its role in disaster relief challenged on a number of fronts. Facing failures in its response to Camille, financial challenges in meeting every-more-costly disasters in the post-World War Two era, and rising expectations of both adequacy and equity on the part of disaster victims, the non-governmental agency ultimately found its role diminished by both the expansion of federal disaster relief programs and by the increasing prominence of disaster programs performed by other voluntary agencies such as the Salvation Army and the Mennonite Disaster Service.